Questions, Questions, Questions: We Need an Investigation

  Did you hear about the University of Utah nurse who was forcefully arrested for not authorizing a blood draw that was being required by the Salt Lake Police Department? Did you hear how she was just following the law on such matters, only to be physically attacked and arrested, all the same?
   Of course, you have.
   "And they called for an investigation," sings Paul Simon. We should have one here. Or a bunch of them. There are all kinds of questions about what happened, what should have happened, and what we should do to correct our wrongs.
  How common is it that police come looking for a blood draw without being within their rights to do so? Was there an ongoing, running battle between University Hospital and the SLCPD?
   Even back in the days of implied consent, did SLCPD officers stretch the boundaries? For even under implied consent rules, they should not have been asking for a blood draw this time around.
 And, is it not just the SLCPD, but other agencies, as well, that have been violating constitutional provisions on privacy and searches? It was the Logan Police Department that was asking for the blood draw. They knew the driver was not under investigation. They knew they didn't have a warrant. They, along with the SLCPD, were still operating under the assumption the implied consent rule was still in place.
  Just last year, it became a Class A felony in Utah to assault a health care professional.  Will officer Jeff Payne be charged? Are there other laws against obstructing health care officials? Did Lt. James Tracy violate any?
   What are our laws on false arrests? Should we be charging officers with this? Or, does that imperil the officers unnecessarily?
 Why were nurse Alex Wubbels' Miranda rights not read to her before Lt. Tracy lectured her and, in part, interrogated her? Is is common that SLCPD officers fail to read the Miranda rights before such interrogations?
  And, of course, how much did Chief Brown know and why didn't he take stronger action earlier? As important as any of the questions, why were the department policies not updated earlier? And, when they were updated, what, specifically, were those changes?
  And, the perhaps the most important question of all, how is it that so many officers were on the scene and all of them stood behind what Officer Payne was doing? For even under the outdated department policies, the arrest was illegal.
  Officer Payne clearly didn't know the law from what the SLCPD had taught him. But, he is also an EMT. How is it that this training didn't get through to him in that position, as well? Was it just his failure to learn or does this indicate more than just one agency is failing to properly train their people?
   With all this said, I do feel we should have a little more compassion for Officer Payne. I don't know if his job can be saved. I don't know but what criminal charges shouldn't be filed against him. I do wonder, though, that after what he has learned, it might well be he will not make the mistake again. He might well be a good officer, despite this.  I say that realizing his comment on taking the homeless to the University Hospital and "good" patients elsewhere was out of line and does need to be considered and addressed.